Portable music player and transmitter

ABSTRACT

A hand-held music player for use in conjunction with radios, including a casing, a receiver socket on the casing through which digital audio data is received, a digital-to-analog audio converter housed within the casing, a first transfer socket on the casing through which a song is transferred to a radio transmitter, a second transfer socket on the casing through which meta-data for the song is transferred to the radio transmitter, and a dial on the casing for selecting a song for playback. A method and a computer-readable storage medium are also described.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part application of and claimspriority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/336,443, filed Jan. 2,2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,191,193, entitled “AUTOMATIC DIGITAL MUSICLIBRARY BUILDER.”

FIELD

Embodiments of the invention relate to mobile digital music players,such as MP3 players, and to mobile digital music transmitters.

BACKGROUND

Digital music players are proliferating as stand-alone consumerelectronic devices (such as MP3 players), as bundled components withinportable devices such as personal digital assistants and cell-phones,and as home network appliances. Listeners typically build up their ownpersonal libraries of digital songs, which are stored on memory unitssuch as hard disk drives and removable memory cards. Digital songs aretypically acquired through the Internet via subscription services andpeer-to-peer exchanges, or by converting songs from a compact disc(“CD”) and importing them into an MP3 library.

Digital songs typically include audio data and peripheral data, referredto as meta-data, used to index the songs within the listener's library.For example, within an MP3 file, meta-data is accessed through anID3Tag. By indexing the songs, a listener can search his library andaccess individual songs therein. Typically audio players provide a userinterface through which users view meta-data.

Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is an illustration of a prior artuser interface for a Windows media player, indicating meta-datadisplayed within a window frame 110, and an index for accessingindividual songs, displayed within a window frame 120.

Building up a digital music library requires a lot of work. Typically,the listener first searches the Internet for one or more songs ofinterest, identifies locations of the songs, and downloads them into adatabase associated with a media player. Songs are typically stored asdigital files, formatted in compliance with a standard format, such asMP3 or WMA. Once the songs are downloaded, the listener typically usessoftware such as Windows Media player (“WMP”) or Winamp to play thesongs on a computer, or alternatively he uses a hardware device, such asan Ipod™ or an MP3 player, to play the songs. WMA files embed meta-datawithin the files, and also within the file names themselves.

Often individuals spend numerous nights downloading their favorite songsand building their own personal music libraries. Downloading music filesfrom the Internet may infringe copyrights unless the files are obtainedthrough a service that pays royalties to the recording industry.

A shortcoming in the digital music world is the great effort required tobuild custom music libraries. An alternative is to purchase librariesthat have been prepared by others. But often someone else's library doesnot match a listener's taste, and the listener prefers to collect hisown favorite songs.

Popular sources for listeners to hear their favorite songs are musicstations. Cable, satellite broadcast and the Internet provide musicchannels for almost every genre of music—classical music, rock and roll,jazz, music of the 80's, etc. A listener can enjoy music according tohis taste by subscribing to such broadcast services.

Ideally, a listener building up his personal digital music library wouldlike to be able to record his favorite songs from such broadcastservices. Raw audio recording from a music station, however, does notprovide the meta-data necessary to identify such songs and incorporatethem into a digital music library. Using today's technology, a listenerhas no choice but to painstakingly label each such song recorded from amusic station with appropriate meta-data—a process that can last hoursin order to build even a modest library with a few hundred songs.

Moreover, in addition to identifying each song, the listener has tomanually separate each song from the next, because the songs are playedsequentially on the music station.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention enable a listener to easily build a digitallibrary of music that is cataloged and easily accessible for personalplayback. Embodiments of the present invention provide a solution forthe tens of millions of households in the U.S. and around the world thatreceive, either through digital cable or over Direct Broadcast Satellite(“DBS”) transmissions, music channels such as Music Choice, DMX, andother commercial-free music services. Such music channels are currentlybroadcast as video and audio channels in which the audio feed includes asong being played, and typically the simultaneous video feed hasinformation about the song, its artists, and the label whose song isbeing broadcast.

For one embodiment, a device referred to hereinafter as a “Nest” isconnected to a digital cable box or digital satellite receiver in thesame fashion that a video cassette recorder (“VCR”) or personal videorecorder (“PVR”) is connected thereto—namely, by connecting the videooutput and the left and right audio outputs of the receiver to thedevice. For one embodiment, the Nest has the ability to record and toplayback by category, much like a PVR. Whereas a PVR relies on datareceived through an electronic program guide to identify what it isrecording, and to name the recorded shows, one embodiment of the Nestuses information in the video portion of the broadcast to identify thesong that is being recorded. Alternatively, the Nest uses informationfrom an audio wave-print database to identify the song that is beingrecorded.

For one embodiment, the Nest allows a listener to record in either a“record all” mode or a “selective mode.” In “record all” mode, thelistener sets his receiver to a music channel broadcasting a genre ofmusic that he enjoys, and he presses a record button on the Nest. TheNest then records and categorizes all songs played during the recordingperiod, until the listener either stops the recording process bypressing “stop” on the Nest, or changes the channel on his receiver.Alternatively, the Nest can be programmed to stop recording at the endof a preset time period set by the listener.

For one embodiment of the present invention, the Nest records each songonce, and, if a song is broadcast more than once, the Nest marks thesong as being virtually recorded an additional time, each time the songis re-broadcast, for managing digital rights.

In this fashion the Nest builds a personal digital music library for thelistener. Assuming that an average song lasts approximately threeminutes and assuming a 25% re-broadcast rate, the Nest recordsapproximately 360 songs during a typical 24 hour day of operation. Thusin approximately a one week period of recording day and night, the Nestbuilds a library of over 2,500 songs, if left on one specific genrechannel. In many cases a listener records only at night when he isasleep. This is because the recording process requires the receiver tobe set to a music channel while recording, and if the listener wants towatch television, he will inherently change the viewing channel from themusic channel. Thus, in a household with average daily televisionviewing, a library of over 2,500 songs for a specific genre is built bythe Nest within two weeks of night recording.

In “selective mode” the Nest is set to record a specific artist or song,and then when that artist or song is broadcast, the Nest records themusic. The “selective mode” is most useful if the desired song or artistis played frequently on one of the genre channels. If the desired songor artist is less frequently played, however, there is no guarantee thatthe Nest will record the requested music.

Songs recorded on the Nest can be heard in a number of differentfashions. A convenient way to listen to songs on the Nest in alistener's living room is to connect audio out of the Nest to anamplifier and stereo system, and to connect video out to a television.The listener can then choose, either through a front panel interface, orby remote control through a television interface, songs that he wouldlike to listen to. The listener can create play lists or choose tolisten to songs in the order they were played by the broadcast musicchannel.

In addition to listening to the songs on the Nest, for one embodiment ofthe invention, the listener can “check out” a set of songs to ahand-held digital music player, referred to as an “Egg,” which can beplugged into one or more docking ports on the Nest. When the listenerhas finished listening to songs on his Egg, he plugs his Egg back into acradle on the Nest in order to check-in songs that are no longer beinglistened to on that specific player, and check out new songs for newlistening.

For one embodiment of the invention, the Nest incorporates digitalrights management with songs recorded, thereby preventing a listenerfrom freely making unlimited copies of the recorded songs. For oneembodiment, a listener is limited to check out of a specific song to thetotal number of times that that song was broadcast to the Nest.Additionally, an Egg is registered to a single Nest, and the Egg canonly check out songs from the Nest to which the Egg is registered.

One embodiment of the invention also includes a device, referred to as a“Shell,” which is used for playback of songs in the Egg on a radio, suchas an audio deck within an automobile. The Shell includes a radiotransmitter that transmits analog audio coming out of the Egg to a radioat a specified broadcast frequency. For one embodiment, the Shell alsotransmits meta-data using a Radio Data System (“RDS”) sub-frequency,thus enabling meta-data to be displayed on the radio liquid crystaldisplay (“LCD”).

For one embodiment of the invention, the Nest includes a unit having ahard disk for storage of songs, an audio/video encoding and decodingplatform, an on-screen display component, optional front panelnavigation buttons and scroll wheel, an LCD panel, and various externalinterfaces including audio/video jacks, USB, Firewire, and power jacks.In addition, the main Nest unit includes four sockets that comprise adocking station for four Eggs. For one embodiment, the sockets haveleads to both re-charge the Eggs and to transfer songs to and from theEggs. The Nest receives analog audio and video from the listener'sreceiver, and encodes both the audio and video signal in real-time. Thevideo portion of the signal is analyzed in order to extract artist name,song name, and label and year from the video broadcast forcategorization purposes. For one embodiment, the analog audio is encodedseparately from the video.

Thus, a hand-held music player is described for use in conjunction withradios. The hand-held music player includes a casing, a receiver socketon the casing through which digital audio data is received, adigital-to-analog audio converter housed within the casing, a firsttransfer socket on the casing through which a song is transferred to aradio transmitter, a second transfer socket on the casing through whichmeta-data for the song is transferred to the radio transmitter, and adial on the casing for selecting a song for playback.

Another hand-held music player for use in conjunction with radios isdescribed. The hand-held music player includes a casing, a receiversocket on the casing through which digital audio data is received, adigital-to-analog audio converter housed within the casing, a radiotransmitter for transmitting a song, an RDS transmitter for transmittingmeta-data for the song, and a dial on the casing for selecting a songfor playback.

A hand-held video player for use in conjunction with televisions isdescribed. The hand-held music player includes a casing, a receiversocket on the casing through which digital video data is received, adigital-to-analog video converter housed within the casing, a firsttransfer socket on the casing through which a video is transferred to atelevision transmitter, a second transfer socket on the casing throughwhich meta-data for the video is transferred to the televisiontransmitter, and a dial on the casing for selecting a video forplayback.

A further hand-held video player for use in conjunction with televisionsis described. The hand-held video player includes a casing, a receiversocket on the casing through which digital video data is received, adigital-to-analog video converter housed within the casing, a televisiontransmitter for transmitting a video and meta-data for the video, and adial on the casing for selecting a video for playback.

A hand-held container for audio with associated meta-data is described.The hand-held container includes a casing, a memory housed within thecasing storing digital audio with associated meta-data, adigital-to-analog audio converter housed within the casing, and atransfer socket on the casing through which a song and meta-dataassociated therewith is transferred to a radio transmitter.

A hand-held container for video with associated meta-data is described.The hand-held container for video includes a casing, a memory housedwithin the casing storing digital video with associated meta-data, adigital-to-analog video converter housed within the casing, and atransfer socket on the casing through which a video and meta-dataassociated therewith is transferred to a television transmitter.

A digital music library builder is described that includes a casing, areceiver socket on the casing through which analog audio is received, ananalog-to-digital converter housed within the casing for convertinganalog audio into digital audio, a meta-data identifier housed withinthe casing for identifying meta-data for a song, and a database managerhoused within the casing for associating the identified meta-data withthe song within a digital music library.

A method is described for transferring audio with associated meta-data.The method includes converting digital audio to analog audio, andtransferring an analog song and meta-data associated therewith to aradio transmitter.

A method is described for building a digital music library builder. Themethod includes receiving analog audio, converting the analog audio todigital audio, identifying meta-data for a song, and associating theidentified meta-data with the song within a digital music library.

A computer-readable storage medium is described storing program code forcausing a device to perform the steps of converting digital audio toanalog audio, and transmitting an analog song and meta-data associatedtherewith to a radio transmitter.

A computer-readable storage medium is described storing program code forcausing a device to perform the steps of receiving analog audio,converting the analog audio to digital audio, identifying meta-data fora song, and associating the identified meta-data with the song, within adigital music library.

A device is described for transferring audio to a radio transmitter. Thedevice includes a mini-jack through which an analog song is transferredto an FM radio transmitter for broadcast at a specific FM frequency, anda USB socket through which digital meta-data for the song is transferredto a radio data system (RDS), which is a sub-carrier of the specific FMfrequency.

A method is described for transferring audio to a radio transmitter. Themethod includes transferring an analog song to an FM radio transmitterfor broadcast at a specific FM frequency, and transferring digitalmeta-data for the song to a radio data system (RDS), which is asub-carrier of the specific FM frequency.

A computer-readable storage medium is described storing program code forcausing a device to perform the steps of transferring an analog song toan FM radio transmitter for broadcast at a specific FM frequency, andtransferring digital meta-data for the song to a radio data system(RDS), which is a sub-carrier of the specific FM frequency.

Other features and advantages of embodiments of the invention will beapparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detaileddescription that follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of exampleand not limitation in the figures for the accompanying drawings, inwhich like references indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a prior art user interface for a Windowsmedia player, indicating meta data and an index for accessing individualsongs displayed;

FIG. 2 is a sample video frame displaying meta-data for a song forprocessing in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of a digital music library builder,or “Nest,” in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4A is a simplified operational flow chart for building a digitalmusic library in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a simplified flowchart of a signal processing method foridentifying individual songs from within a digital audio segment ofmusic recorded from a cable or satellite receiver, or from a television,in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a simplified perspective view of a music player, or “Egg,” inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6A-6G are simplified perspective views of a Nest in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 7A and 7B are simplified perspective views of an adaptor, or“Shell,” in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 8A-8F are simplified perspective views of an Egg and Shellcombination in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;and

FIG. 9 is a simplified block diagram illustrating interconnectivity of aNest with other devices in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention enable a listener to automaticallyimport songs recorded from a broadcast music station into his digitalmusic library, along with the songs' meta-data required for indexing hislibrary. A listener, with practically no effort, can automatically builda large digital music library with tens of thousands of his choice ofsongs, all properly indexed for search and retrieval.

Moreover, an additional feature of an embodiment of the presentinvention enables the listener to select which songs from among thosebroadcast on the music stations are to be imported into his library,based on one or more of genre, song title, artist, album, length ofsong, and other criteria.

Embodiments of the present invention concern a method and system forautomatically building digital music libraries, from music channelsbroadcast through cable and satellite stations. For one embodiment,broadcast songs are recorded into a digital music library along withmeta-data necessary for indexing and accessing each individual song, andfor display while the songs are being played. The digital music librarygenerated from the broadcast music serves as a large library ofindividual songs with full search and access capability.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which is a sample video frame 210displaying meta-data for a song, for processing in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. Video frame 210 is broadcast bysatellite to listeners of the “Music Choice” station. Video frame 210 istypically displayed on a listener's television while live music is beingbroadcast. As shown in FIG. 2, the listener has selected a genre forsongs of the 80's, and is currently listening to a song entitled “Like aVirgin” by the artist “Madonna,” from an album entitled “Like a Virgin.”The various descriptive data associated with a song is referred to as“meta-data;” i.e., descriptive data about the digital audio data itself.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a system that enables thelistener to automatically digitally record each broadcast song into adigital music library and index each song according to genre, songtitle, artist and album title, as described below. Additionally,embodiments of the present invention enable the listener to filter songsto be automatically recorded by specifying, inter alia, a genre, songtitle, or artist, instead of recording all of the broadcast songs. Thelistener need not be present while the system is in operation.Embodiments of the present invention enable automatic generation oflarge libraries of songs.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which is a simplified block diagram ofa digital music library builder in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. Shown in FIG. 3 is a broadcast station 305broadcasting cable or satellite entertainment to a home 310. Thebroadcast entertainment is received within home 310 by a satellite orcable receiver 315 and played to a home viewer though his television 320or other display device.

The audio output of satellite or cable receiver 315 is converted fromanalog to digital by an A/D converter 325. The converted digital audiois written to a memory buffer 330. If cable or satellite receiver 315includes an optical or coaxial connection for audio out, then digitalaudio can be extracted directly without the need for A/D converter 325.

A song extractor 335 analyzes the digital audio and marks the beginningsand ends of individual songs. For one embodiment, song extractor 335filters out non-musical portions from the digital audio, such as purespeech, and compensates for overlapping the end of one song with thebeginning of a next song. Each such song marked by song extractor 335 iswritten to a digital music library 340, which is a storage device suchas a hard drive, and subsequently flushed from memory buffer 330.

A video frame grabber 345 captures a video frame being displayed ontelevision 320, such as video frame 210 illustrated in FIG. 2. Anoptical character recognizer 350 extracts characters from the videoframe, such as the characters in video frame 210. A meta-data generator355 identifies meta-data associated with a current song, within theextracted characters, such as a genre, song title, artist name, andalbum title within video frame 210. The meta-data identified bymeta-data generator 355 is then written to digital music library 340 andlinked to the corresponding song.

The overall process through which meta-data is extracted from the videoportion of the audio/video broadcast is as follows. A number of framesare captured from the video broadcast by station 305—for one embodiment,between 10 and 20 frames per song. The captured frames are processedusing image processing algorithms so as to create a clear image of adesired region of the screen. The clarified image is cropped accordingto a pre-determined template, which specifies the location of relevantdata on the screen. For one embodiment, such template is generated byanalyzing screens from multiple songs so as to recognize a pattern. Forone embodiment, the resulting cropped image is transformed into atwo-tone black and white image. The black and white image is processedthrough optical character recognizer 350 and relevant meta-data isextracted by meta-data extractor 355.

For one embodiment, extracted meta-data is verified with an internal CDdatabase, such as the Gracenote® database, to ensure accuracy. Such aninternal CD database is also used for an embodiment to determinemeta-data, in circumstances where the extracted meta-data is incompleteor inaccurate, by matching the extracted meta-data to entries in thedatabase that are close matches.

As indicated in FIG. 3 by use of dashed lines, the audio signal andvideo frame may be extracted from television 320 instead of from cableor satellite receiver 315.

Songs broadcast by station 305 can be selectively imported into digitalmusic library 340, filtered according to meta-data. Criteria based onone or more meta-data including, inter alia, genre, song title, artistname, album title, and length of song, can be used to filter songs to beimported from among all of the broadcast songs. For one embodiment, amemory buffer is used to record a song while a determination is beingmade whether or not to filter the song.

For one embodiment, songs already included within digital music library340 are not overwritten unless the listener expressly instructs thesystem to overwrite.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4A, which is a simplified operational flowchart for building a digital music library in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. At operation 405 an analog audiosignal or a digital audio signal is received from a cable receiver, asatellite receiver, or from a television. At operation 410, the analogsignal is converted to digital audio if an analog signal was received atoperation 405. The digital audio is stored in a memory buffer atoperation 415.

At operation 420, a video frame is captured from a cable receiver, asatellite receiver, or from a television. At operation 425, characterrecognition is applied to recognize characters in the captured videoframe. At operation 430 meta-data is identified from the recognizedcharacters. For one embodiment, a template for the captured video frameis used as an aid in operations 425 and 430. For example, a templatecorresponding to video frame 210 from FIG. 2 may indicate an area of theimage in which relevant meta-data typically appears. At operation 435the identified meta-data is stored in a memory buffer.

At operation 440 the digital audio stored in the memory buffer isanalyzed to identify individual songs, as described in more detail withreference to FIG. 4B. At operation 445 meta-data stored in the memorybuffer is identified as being associated with corresponding individualsongs. At operation 450 individual songs and their associated meta-dataare written to a digital music library.

Due to interlacing on the television screen, it may be necessary tocapture more than one video frame at operation 420 in order to be ableto extract the meta-data for the song being broadcast. Multiple framesare preferably averaged in order to enhance the appearance of charactersprior to recognition operation 425.

Alternatively, to enhance characters prior to recognition operation 425,the luminance component of the one or more color video frames can beextracted. Extraction of luminance serves to remove color burst noisethat degrades performance of optical character recognition.

The operations in FIG. 4 may be performed in a different order than asnumbered in FIG. 4A. For example, operations 405, 410, and 415 for theaudio processing may be performed before or after or simultaneous withoperations 420, 425, 430, and 435 for the video processing.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4B, which is a simplified flowchart of asignal processing method for identifying individual songs from within adigital audio segment of music recorded from a cable receiver, asatellite receiver, or from a television, corresponding to operation 440in FIG. 4A. The recorded digital audio includes a signal of samples,s(n), corresponding to a sequence of songs. At operation 455,transitions are detected between a first song, s₁(n), and a second song,s₂(n), within the recorded signal s(n). The songs broadcast from thecable receiver, the satellite receiver, or from the television generallyoverlap and fade in and out, thus making it difficult to separate them.If the broadcast songs do not overlap, then transitions are identifiedby short intervals of quiet, or background noise. But when the songsoverlap, such quiet intervals may not exist. Thus automatic detection oftransitions within broadcast songs, as at operation 455, is challenging.

When the data stream s(n) exhibits significant energy reduction betweensongs, such as is typical for fade in and fade out, a characteristicmeasurement such as

${x(n)} = {\sum\limits_{k = 0}^{N - 1}{{s\left( {n - k} \right)}}}$is minimized during song transitions. Thus song separation can be basedon a threshold value for x(n). Such a threshold can be fine tuned byadjusting it dynamically based on the values of x(n).

For data streams where energy reduction between songs is notsignificant, an alternate approach is to use a characteristicmeasurement such as

${{x(n)} = {\max\limits_{0 \leq i < M}{C\left( {{V_{i}(n)},{V_{i}\left( {n - 1} \right)}} \right)}}},$where C(v,w) is a measure of correlation between two vectors v and w;and where v_(i)(n) is a vector that captures frequency-based propertiesof the samples s(n), s(n−1), . . . , s(n−N+1), for frequencies within ani^(th) band, or range, of frequencies. As above, song separation can bebased on a threshold value for x(n). The motivation for this alternateapproach is that each song generally has its own characteristicresonances in its rhythm and melody. Thus during a single song thevectors v_(i)(n) tend to be correlated, and after a transition they tendto change significantly.

The two algorithms described above for performing operation 455represent two different approaches to identifying transitions betweensongs, and other viable algorithms may also be used.

At operation 460 an interval of overlap between two songs is detected.An algorithm for detecting transitions may be used to detect start andstop of overlap. As above, other viable signal processing algorithms mayalso be used for performing operation 460.

At operation 465 individual songs s₁(n) and s₂(n) are recovered from thecombined signal s(n), using the overlap detected at operation 460 forone embodiment. An algorithm for recovering s₁(n) is to use the valuesof s₁(n) prior to the overlap interval, namely s(n), to predict thevalues of s₁(n) during the overlap interval. Denoting the predictor ofs₁(n) by Ŝ₁(n), the difference s₁(n)−Ŝ₁(n) is used as a predictor Ŝ₂(n)to estimate the values of s₂(n) during the overlap interval. The valueof s₂(n) after the overlap interval, namely s(n), is used to correct theestimator Ŝ₂(n), which in turn feeds back to correct the estimatorŜ₁(n). By iterating prediction and feedback, converged estimators Ŝ₁(n)and Ŝ₂(n) are generally obtained. As above, other viable signalprocessing algorithms may also be used for performing operation 465.

For an alternative embodiment of the present invention, meta-data for asong is determined directly from the digital audio data by looking upthe song using a database of “fingerprints” for known songs. Afingerprint of a song is a relatively small pattern of bits thatcaptures perceptual qualities of the song. The fingerprint of a song canbe computed from digital audio samples of the song. For one embodiment,a comprehensive database is generated, including fingerprints of a largenumber of known songs, together with the known meta-data associated withthem. Then, to determine meta-data associated with an unknown song, thefingerprint of the unknown song is computed and compared with thefingerprints within the database to find a best match. The entry in thedatabase whose fingerprint best matches that of the unknown songgenerally contains the sought for meta-data associated with the unknownsong.

For this alternative embodiment, operations 425, 430, and 435 in FIG. 4Aare not required. For another embodiment, operations 425, 430, and 435are performed, and a database of fingerprints is used to correctpossible errors that may occur in automatic recognition of meta-datafrom video frames.

The present invention is embodied in a programmable device, referred toherein as a “Nest,” that can interface with computers, with MP3 playersand other digital music players, and with other electronic devices thatinclude MP3 players or other digital music players therewithin,including, inter alia, cell phones, PDAs, home network appliances, andInternet appliances. For a first embodiment, the Nest is coupled tosatellite/cable receiver 315 (FIG. 3). For a second embodiment, the Nestis coupled to television 320. For a third embodiment, the Nest iscoupled to various external components via a USB and a Firewireconnection.

For all embodiments, the memory storing digital music library 340 can beeither a large hard disk situated within the Nest itself, or one or moresmaller removable memory units such as compact disks and memory cards,or a combination of hard disk and removable memory. The advantage of alarge hard disk is that the listener's music library is consolidatedinto a single library that can be searched and accessed in its entirety.The advantage of removable memory units, such as compact disks, is thatthe listener can insert the disks into portable players such as MP3players. Assuming that 40 songs on average require 128 MB of data andinclude one and a half hour's worth of listening, a large 80 GB harddisk can hold a library of approximately 25,600 songs. A 640 MB compactdisk can hold approximately 200 songs, or about 7½ hours worth oflistening.

For one embodiment of the present invention, a Nest includes one or moreexchange ports, also referred to herein as “cradles,” through which oneor more hand-held digital music players, referred to herein as “Eggs,”can be connected to the Nest, for loading songs from a digital musiclibrary stored on the Nest thereto. Such exchange ports may be circularor oval ports into which Eggs in the shape of film canisters areinserted. Eggs may be “charged up” with songs while they are “pluggedinto” the Nest.

For one embodiment of the present invention, an Egg can be connected toan adaptor, referred to herein as a “Shell,” that includes an FM/RFtransmitter. Using the Shell, songs stored in an Egg can be played on aradio, such as an audio deck within an automobile. The shell receivesanalog audio out from the Egg and broadcasts the audio to an FM radio ata user-selectable frequency from among a list of frequencies. Inaddition, the Shell transmits meta-data concurrently with a song througha Radio Data System (RDS) transmission. Alternatively, instead of usinga user-selectable frequency, the Egg may transmit to the Shell a list ofone or more free FM frequencies.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which is a simplified perspective viewof a music player, or “Egg,” in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. Shown in FIG. 5 is a hand-held Egg 500 including adisplay 510 for viewing meta-data for a song being played. Egg 500 isloaded with songs from a Nest and serves as a player. Also shown in FIG.5 is a jog dial 520 and a mini-jack 530 for inserting a headphone.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 6A-6G, which are simplified perspectiveviews of a Nest in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 6A is a front view of a Nest 600, including a userinterface display 605 with buttons 610 and scroll wheel 615 fornavigation, and including slots for four Eggs 620. Also shown in FIG. 6Ais a mini-jack 625 for inserting a headphone, an on/off button 630,green and yellow LEDs 635 and a record button 640. FIGS. 6B, 6C, and 6Dare side views of Nest 600. FIG. 6C shows a side of Nest 600 havingslots 645 for memory cards, USB sockets 650 for connecting foreign MP3players to the Nest, and an IEEE 1394 socket 655 for connecting IEEE1394 devices to the Nest. FIG. 6D shows the back of Nest 600 with a slot660 for a DC power supply, slots 665 for audio and video in, slots 670for audio and video out, and a connectivity slot 675. Connectivity slot675 is preferably used for Ethernet support, Bluetooth support, and802.11 based connectivity. FIG. 6E is a view from the right of Nest 600,indicating a base support 680 for the Nest and a removable disk drive685. FIGS. 6F and 6G are views from the top of Nest 600 with and withoutEggs 620 inserted into slots 690, respectively.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 7A and 7B, which are simplifiedperspective views of an adaptor, or “Shell” 700 in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. Shell 700 is used to broadcastanalog audio played by an Egg to a radio, such as an audio deck in anautomobile. FIG. 7A is a front view of the Shell. FIG. 7B is a top viewof Shell 700, indicating a male USB connector 710 and a male RCA audioconnector 720.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 8A-8F, which are simplified perspectiveviews of an Egg and Shell combination in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention. Shown in FIG. 8A is a Shell 800 and an Egg500. Underneath Egg 500 is a female USB connector 810 and a femaleaudio/video RCA connector 820.

A typical usage scenario for a Nest is as follows. A listener sets hiscable or satellite receiver box to a specific music channel—for oneembodiment, from a commercial-free radio station such as The MusicChoice®—and activates the Nest to capture songs from the music channel.The Nest automatically creates a digital music library and imports thebroadcast songs therein. Thereafter, the listener plugs an Egg into theNest and loads selected songs from the music library onto the Egg. Ifthe Nest is connected to the listener's speaker system, then thelistener may also pipe music from the Nest into speakers in variousrooms. If the Nest is connected to a home network, the listener maystream audio to a computer that is authorized to work with the Nest.

For one embodiment of the present invention, Nest 600 supports two typesof I/O interfaces; namely, those inherently supported by the Nest, andthose supported when connected to a network. Specifically, the I/Ointerfaces include one or more of the following:

TABLE I Nest Hardware I/O Interfaces Hardware Interface Description Fourmale USB 2.0 Inside the Egg cradle, as illustrated in FIG. 6G. The USB2.0 On-The-Go (OTG) OTG connectors need not work simultaneously and, assuch, connectors 690 (FIG. 6G) they can be implemented in a hub orswitch configuration. The connectors need not be OTG connectors, sincethe Nest can act as a USB 2.0 host, thus obviating the need for OTGsupport. Four audio/video male (Optional) Adjacent to the USB 2.0 OTGconnectors in the connectors Egg cradles. The A/V connectors are usedfor connecting analog audio and analog video leads from the Eggs to theNest. For one embodiment, Egg A/V connectors support multi-system video,including PAL, NTSC and SECAM. Two sets of analog left One set locatedon the front of the Nest, and one set located and right audio in and onthe rear of the Nest. For one embodiment, these analog video in, or s-connectors are high quality female RCA plug connectors. The video inconnectors front set of connectors is used to connect auxiliary audio665 (FIG. 6D) devices, such as a CD player, in order to add content intothe Nest. The rear set of connectors is used to connect analog audio andanalog video outs from a digital cable or DBS box to the Nest for oneembodiment. Left and right analog Used to connect to a television set inorder to provide both audio out and analog pass-through audio and videoto the television set from the video out, or s-video digital cable orDBS box. For one embodiment, these out connectors 670 connectors arehigh quality female RCA plug connectors. For (FIG. 6D) one embodiment,the Nest applies an overlay, over the incoming video, which has amenuing graphical user interface for enabling a consumer to interactwith the Nest and perform on-screen menuing functions using a remotecontrol. Infrared receiver 625 Shown in FIG. 6A on the front of theNest, used to receive (FIG. 6A) commands from a remote control unit. Forone embodiment, the infrared receiver controls both the on-screenmenuing functions and the Nest itself. Connectivity Shown in FIG. 6D onthe rear of the Nest, serving as a USB connector 675 (FIG. 2.0 socketfor Ethernet (RJ45) support. Alternatively, 6D) Bluetooth support and802.11 based connectivity may be built into the Nest. Solid state memory(Optional) Shown in FIG. 6C on the left side of the unit. For socket(s)645 (FIG. one embodiment, there are four sockets supporting various 6C)media types, including inter alia a Sony memory stick, Panasonic SD,Smart Media and Compact Flash types 1 and 2. For one embodiment, thesesockets are used for checking in and out songs located on the variousmedia types. USB 2.0 OTG Shown in FIG. 6C underneath the solid-statememory socket(s) 650 (FIG. socket(s) on the left side of the Nest. Forone embodiment, 6C) these sockets are used for connecting foreign MP3players to the Nest. As above, if the Nest acts as a USB host to otherdevices, then a USB 2.0 host socket can be used in place of an OTGsocket. IEEE 1394 socket 655 (Optional) Shown in FIG. 6C on the leftside of the Nest, to (FIG. 6C) the right of the USB 2.0 socket. For oneembodiment, this socket is used for connecting IEEE 1394 devices to theNest, for example, to create backups of the hard disk inside the Nest.Mini-jack socket On the front of the Nest, providing analog stereo audioout for hooking up headphones to the Nest. Optical digital audio On theback of the Nest, used for playback of movies. For out one embodiment,when movies with Dolby digital audio are played, the digital audio issent out through this connector. Optical digital audio On the back ofthe Nest, enabling connection of digital audio in out from digital cableor DBS receivers that support digital audio out.

For one embodiment of the present invention, the Nest includes hardwarecomponents used as a front panel interface for interaction and viewingdata from the Nest, and hardware components necessary to provide Nestfunctionality. Specifically, the user interface components of the Nestinclude one or more of the following:

TABLE II Nest Hardware User Interface Components Component DescriptionLarge jog dial 615 (FIG. 6A) (Optional) Shown in FIG. 6A on the leftfront of the Nest, and used to scroll up and down and select itemsdisplayed on the Nest front display. In addition, for one embodiment,the jog dial enables a user to choose a menu item and select it. For oneembodiment of the present invention, the jog dial is a rolling jog dial,pressable for selection. For an alternative embodiment of the presentinvention, the jog dial is a spring based jog dial that does not fullyroll, but is used as a five function jog dial; namely, single clickscroll up, single click scroll down, selection click toggle by pressingon the jog dial, and duration based scroll up and scroll down for twoadditional functions. Navigation arrows and (Optional) Shown in FIG. 6on the front of the Nest, used to select buttons 610 navigate throughthe Nest front display menu options, as well (FIG. 6A) as to select andcreate play lists. On/off button 630 (Optional) Shown in FIG. 6A on theleft front of the Nest, (FIG. 6A) used to turn the Nest on and off. Forone embodiment, holding down the On/Off button resets the Nest, in casethe Nest is stuck. For one embodiment, the Nest may also be reset byholding down the On/Off button during powering up of the Nest afterplugging in the DC power. Green and yellow (Optional) Shown in FIG. 6Aunderneath he On/Off button LEDs 635 (FIG. 6A), on the left front of theNest, used to give a user feedback or a single multi- when variousactions occur, and to provide error codes based colored LED on the LED'sbehavior - lit, turned off, blinking or blinking quickly. Red infraredreceiver (Optional) Shown in FIG. 6A on the left front of the Nest, toand LED 625 (FIG. the right of the green and yellow LEDs, for flashingwhen an 6A) infrared signal is being received from a remote control.Record button 640 (Optional) Shown in FIG. 6A on the left front of theNest. (FIG. 6A) For one embodiment, the record button begins automaticsong record from an audio and video source; namely, from one of the setsof analog left and right audio and analog video in connectors. For oneembodiment, the record button is a toggle button to start and stoprecording, and the red LED lights up while the Nest is recording. LEDdisplay 605 (Optional) Shown in FG. 6A on the front of the Nest, used to(FIG. 6A) display information about the state the Nest is in. For oneembodiment, the LCD is at least approximately four inches in width bythree inches in height, and supports at least five lines of text. TheLCD is used as an interface, together with the various navigationbuttons and jog dial, for interaction with the Nest. Alternatively, anLED display may be used instead of an LCD display.

The functional components of the Nest include one or more of thefollowing:

TABLE III Nest Hardware Functional Components Component DescriptionPower connector 660 (FIG. 6D) Shown in FIG. 6D on the rear of the Nest,and used to supply DC power to the Nest, sufficient for powering theNest, for charging the Eggs that can be placed in the Nest, and forperipherals connected to the Nest through the IEEE 1394 socket, the USB2.0 OTG socket and the connectivity connector at the rear of the Nest.Removable hard disk Shown in FIG. 6E located on the right side of theNest. drive 685 (FIG. 6E) Preferably, the removable hard disk drive isat least a 20 GB drive, situated within a bay, which can be removed sothat the drive can be upgraded to a larger storage capacity. For oneembodiment, the drive read and write rates are fast enough so that theNest supports video reading and writing to and from the disk. Optionalbattery For storing date and clock information when the Nest is notcompartment for plugged in, so that the Nest does not lose its clocksettings if it backup power loses power.

For one embodiment of the present invention, the Nest includes softwaredrivers, and appropriate infrastructure to allow additional driversupport as later versions are released. Specifically, the Nest includesone or more of the following device drivers:

TABLE IV Nest Software Drivers Driver Description USB Device DriversDigital audio Including inter alia MP3 and WMA player support support,enabling import and export to and from digital audio players. USB basedhard Including inter alia DiskOnKey type disk support products. Ethernetdongle For supporting multiple brands and driver support chipsets of USBethernet dongles. 802.11 dongle For supporting multiple brands anddriver support chipsets of USB 802.11. Bluetooth support For supportingmultiple brands and chipsets of Bluetooth hosting, connected through theUSB connectivity socket. Alternatively, as mentioned hereinabove, theNest may support Bluetooth internally. USB based DVD For supportingmultiple brands of USB RW/CDRW based DVD/RW and CDRW devices, forsupport ripping and archiving purposes. IEEE 1394 IEEE based Forsupporting multiple brands of USB Device Drivers DVD/RW and based DVD/RWand CDRW devices, for CDRW support ripping and archiving purposes. IEEE1394 based For backing up the internal hard disk to hard disk support anexternal hard disk, for archiving purposes and also for upgrading to alarger hard disk. Bluetooth Device Drivers Keyboard support Forinputting data via wireless keyboard. Bluetooth 2.0 For data transferfrom PDAs and for support Bluetooth enabled MP3 players.

For one embodiment of the present invention, the Egg supports three I/Ointerfaces. Specifically, the I/O interfaces include:

TABLE V Egg Hardware I/O Interfaces Interface Description Femaleaudio/video Shown in FIG. 8A on the bottom of the Egg, used to outputconnector 820 (FIG. 8A) analog audio and analog video from the Egg tothe Nest, the Shell and to other peripheral devices. For one embodiment,the Egg audio/video connector supports multi-system video, includinginter alia PAL, NTSC and SECAM. Connection of this connector triggersthe Egg to switch to an “on” state, and disconnection puts the Egg in an“off” state. Female USB 2.0 OTG Shown in FIG. 8A on the bottom of theEgg next to the connector 810 (FIG. female A/V connector, used totransfer data between the Egg 8A) and the Nest, between the Egg and a“filling station” kiosk, and between the Egg and another Egg. Stereomini-jack 530 (Optional) Shown in FIG. 5, located on the side of theEgg, (FIG. 5) used to attach headphones to listen to music on the Egg.For one embodiment, the stereo mini-jack acts as one of the on/offmechanisms of the Egg.

For one embodiment, the user interface components of the Egg include:

TABLE VI Egg Hardware User Interface Components Component DescriptionJog dial 520 (FIG. 5) Shown in FIG. 5 on top of the Egg. LCD display 510(FIG. Shown in FIG. 5 on a side of the Egg. 5) SD memory slot Not shown.Left and right buttons at Not shown. top of egg

For one embodiment, the Egg includes the following software I/O drivers:

TABLE VII Egg Software I/O Drivers Driver Description USB 2.0 OTGdrivers For peripheral transfer.

In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the Shellprovides the capability to listen to songs and play lists that are beingplayed on the Egg through a user's car deck. Specifically, the Shellincludes one or more of the following I/O interfaces:

TABLE VIII Shell Hardware I/O Interfaces Interface Description Male USB2.0 OTG Shown in FIG. 7B, located on the top of the connector 710 (FIG.Shell, used primarily to supply power to the 7B) Egg and to recharge theEgg's rechargeable battery. Male audio/video User to receive analogaudio and analog video connector 720 and pass it to the FM/RFtransmitter located (FIG. 7B) in the Shell.

For one embodiment, the Shell includes the following hardwarecomponents:

TABLE IX Shell Hardware Components Component Description Bluetooth(Optional) On top of the Shell. transmitter Bluetooth (Optional) Insidethe Shell. cassette recorder FM Selectable frequency is determined fromamong a plurality transmitter of frequencies displayed on the Eggdisplay, by a setting on the Shell. For one embodiment, both even andodd frequencies are supported for international use. For one embodiment,the FM transmitter includes Radio Data System (RDS) functionality sothat when an RDS FM deck receives a signal from the transmitter, itidentifiers an Egg name and ID#. RF (Optional) For video and audiotransmission transmitter

For one embodiment of the present invention, the Nest includes at leastone of the following functions:

TABLE X Nest Functionality Function Description Automatic song record Auser tunes in a channel on a digital cable or DBS box, and activates therecord function. The Nest begins to record and index songs played fromthat moment on. Recording continues until the cannel is changed on thedigital cable or DBS box, or until the user instructs the Nest to stoprecording, for example, through a remote control unit. Selective songrecord A user chooses one or more artists, albums and song names from alist, or enters such data. The user tunes the digital cable or DMS boxto a desired channel to selectively record from. The Nest waits for asong that matches the selected criteria, and records the song into theNest. Auxiliary song record A user connects an auxiliary device, such asa CD player, to the Nest, by connecting audio out from the CD playermini- jack to the left and right RCA audio in on the front of the Nest.The Nest is set to record, and the CD is played on the CD player. TheNest begins to digitize (“rip”) songs played on the CD player, andstores each song in a separate file. The Nest identifies the song andsores the identifying meta- data in the Nest library. On screen playlist A user creates play lists from songs located on the Nest, creationusing a remote control unit to make selections, from an on- screenmenuing system displayed on a television. Checking in and out A userchecks songs and play lists in and out from the Nest songs and playlists to one or more eggs located in the Nest cradles, using a remotecontrol unit to make selections, from an on-screen menuing systemdisplayed on a television. For one embodiment of the present invention,permission to check out a particular song or play list is subject to aflexible and configurable digital rights management system. Backing upthe Nest for A user creates a backup of the Nest hard drive forarchiving archiving and disk upgrade purposes. For one embodiment,backup is supported through an IEEE 1394 socket, or USB 2.0 sockets, orover TCP/IP connectivity. This function enables the user to upgradeseamlessly to a larger hard disk and not lose data. DBS/Cable recordingA user records a video into MPEG-4 VHS quality. Line input recording Auser records analog audio from a line input, and the Nest identifies themeta-data. Nest front display (Optional) For one embodiment, the Nestfront display includes one or more of (i) album covers, (ii) play listorganization, (iii) setup screens, (iv) meta-data confirmation, (v)meta-data entry, (vi) organization of songs, (vii) deletion of songs,(viii) one or more sorted views, (ix) statistics including number ofsongs recorded in a period of time, (x) data and time setup, (xi)connectivity setup, (xii) Nest registration and naming setup, and (xiii)Egg registration and naming setup.

For one embodiment of the present invention, the Nest and Egg devicessupport mechanisms to update software in the devices. Software updatesare transported to the Nest by one or more of the following:

-   -   Placing software on the Egg via a kiosk, such as in a retail        environment. When the Egg is subsequently placed in the Nest        cradle, the software upgrade is passed to the Nest, and the Nest        updates itself and also updates the Egg, as necessary.    -   Software is received over broadcast medium in the form of video        transmission, for example, through the vertical blanking line,        or through other video based or audio based data transfer        mechanisms.    -   Software is received over the Internet through the Nest's        connectivity connector.

For one embodiment of the present invention, Egg and Nest softwareupdates have a recovery method so that if power is lost during asoftware update, for example, if an Egg is pulled out during a softwareupdate, a rollback can be applied to revert to the previous softwareversion.

For one embodiment of the present invention, the Egg includes at leastone of the following functions: (i) playing a song; (ii) selecting aplay list and playing it; (iii) next and previous song; (iv) fastforward and rewind; (v) status checking; and (vi) transfer songs or playlists from one Egg to another.

The Egg may receive control commands through the USB connector. (Referto Table V hereinabove.) Specifically,

-   -   when connected to a Nest, the Nest may issue control commands to        the Egg, such as a command to advance to the next song;    -   when connected to the Shell, the Shell may issue control        commands to the Egg, such as a command to search for a free FM        frequency; and    -   when connected to a docking station, such as a docking station        for the Egg in a room of a house, the docking station may        receive infra red commands issued by a user, and translate them        into control commands to the Egg over the USB connector.

Reference is now made to FIG. 9, which is a simplified block diagramillustrating interconnectivity of an automatic music library builderwith other devices, in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. Shown in FIG. 9 is an automatic music library builder 910,receiving audio and video feed from a cable or satellite receiver 920that broadcasts music channels. Music library builder 910 generates anMP3 music database in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention, optionally filtering broadcast songs according to pre-definedlistener settings and preferences.

Optionally, music library builder 910 interconnects with a computer 930and a personal data assistant (PDA) 940. Listener settings andpreferences can be set on computer 930 or PDA 940, and loaded therefromonto music library builder 910. Music library builder 910 can beprogrammed and controlled using computer 930 or PDA 940. Music librarybuilder 910 can also be controlled using a remote control unit 950,using an infra-red (IR) or radio frequency (RF) signal.

After automatic music library builder 910 generates a digital musicdatabase such as an MP3 database, the database can be streamed tocomputer 930 or transferred to a PDA 940, with appropriate digitalrights management (DRM) algorithms, for playback. Alternatively, thedatabase can be transferred to a portable device 960 with MP3 playercapability through a removable memory unit such as a compact disk ormemory card.

For one embodiment, automatic music library builder 910 includes a userinterface, albeit a limited user interface, that enables a listener toselect and categorize songs that are automatically imported into hisdigital music library. For an alternative embodiment of the presentinvention, a listener can specify his settings on his computer or PDA,and then load them into the device of an embodiment of the presentinvention using a USB cable or memory medium.

For one embodiment, the user interface displays the current song, ayes/no indicator, and the cumulative number of songs already recorded.For one embodiment, the user interface also enables a user to view anindex of all songs recorded on the current memory unit, and to view anindex of all songs recorded on all memory units.

For an alternate embodiment of the present invention, automatic musiclibrary builder 910 uses a television 970 to display a user interface.For one embodiment, automatic library builder 910 includes a video outconnector that can be used to connect into television 970. Selectionsfrom menu screens displayed on television 970 are made using a controldevice, such as remote control unit 950, the control device havingdirectional buttons for left-right-up-down and a button for select forone embodiment.

An enhanced embodiment of the present invention incorporates digitalrights management. Specifically, meta-data for a song can also includethe number of times the song was played on the broadcast music channel.Such number is used to limit the number of times a listener can accessthe song from his music library by another digital music player.

In reading the above description, persons skilled in the art willrealize that there are many apparent variations that can be applied tothe methods and systems described. Thus, with reference to FIGS. 3 and4, it may be appreciated that the analog audio and the video framecontaining meta-data may be captured from different sources, instead offrom a single source. Meta-data for broadcast songs may be available,for example, at a broadcaster's Internet site.

Alternatively, meta-data for broadcast songs may be extracted from avideo or still image camera that photographs a display screen of a radiothat includes meta-data. For example, XM and Sirius satellite radiosdisplay meta-data on their screens. Often broadcasters transmitmeta-data in an encrypted form, and thus use of a camera enablesdetermination of meta-data without the need to decrypt an encrypted datastream.

For an alternate embodiment of the present invention, meta-data may beincluded within a video broadcast, for example, as data within avertical blanking channel. For such an embodiment, the present inventionobtains meta-data by extraction from the vertical blanking channel.

It may be appreciated that the Eggs of the present invention may receivedigital music from other devices, in addition to the Nest. Thus the Eggsmay be compatible with kiosks, such as music kiosks located in musicdistribution stores used for listening to songs prior to purchase. Forone embodiment, when an Egg is checked in with a Nest, the digital musicreceived from other devices and stored within the Egg is archived on theNest.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however,be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to thespecific exemplary embodiments without departing from the broader spiritand scope of the invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawingsare to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for use in conjunction with radios, comprising: a handheld music player, comprising: a casing; a first transfer socket on said casing, through which a song is transferred to a radio transmitter; a second transfer socket on said casing, through which meta-data for the song is transferred to the radio transmitter; and circuitry for determining a designated radio broadcast frequency in response to a control command received from the radio transmitter; and a radio transmitter, external to said music player, comprising: circuitry for transmitting the song and the meta-data for the song to a radio at the designated radio broadcast frequency; and circuitry for issuing a control command to said music player, instructing said music player to determine the designated broadcast frequency.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein said circuitry for determining determines the designated frequency by searching for a free radio frequency.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein said circuitry for determining comprises a frequency selector, for selecting the designated radio broadcast frequency.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherein said circuitry for determining comprises a tuner for scanning radio frequencies.
 5. The system of claim 1 wherein the meta-data is transferred to the radio transmitter through said second transfer socket as radio data system (RDS) data.
 6. A method for transmitting audio to a radio, comprising: transferring a song, and meta-data for the song, by a hand-held music player, to a radio transmitter; issuing a control command, by the radio transmitter, to the music player, instructing the music player to determine a designated broadcast frequency; receiving, by the music player, the control command from the radio transmitter; determining, by the music player, the designated radio broadcast frequency in response to said receiving; and transmitting the song and the meta-data for the song, by the radio transmitter to the radio at the designated radio broadcast frequency.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein said determining comprises scanning, by the music player, radio frequencies.
 8. The method of claim 6 wherein said determining comprises searching, by the music player, for a free radio frequency.
 9. The method of claim 6 wherein said transferring meta-data for the song comprises transferring, by the music player, the meta-data as radio data system (RDS) data. 